The SME Development Report

In Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Ukraine, SMEs’ potential remains largely untapped. To foster the competitiveness of the SME sectors, promote new business linkages of domestic suppliers with the international investors, and specifically support female founders, it is decisive to establish cross-regional cooperation.

The SME Development Project is a unique, transnational project with a strong regional focus and a shared scope: strengthening awareness and knowledge of SMEs, providing the stakeholders with comparative data and supporting enterprises by trade fair participations and B2B meetings with its German and international counterparts.

In this view, the German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce (AHK Azerbaijan), the Representative Office of German Economy in Belarus and Information Centre of German Economy (AHK Belarus), the German Business Association Georgia (DWV Georgia), the German-Ukrainian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (AHK Ukraine) with the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) unite their forces to make SMEs stronger.

A total of 150 companies from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, and Ukraine have participated in the online survey “The Opportunities and Challenges of the SME Development in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Ukraine” conducted from September to November 2020. The SME Development Report is based on the findings of the online questionnaire and additional face-to-face interviews with relevant stakeholders from the respective countries.

The Report shows that, despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the surveyed companies stay optimistic: although around 90 % of tourism companies and 70 % of agricultural companies registered significant negative effects on their business and export activities, almost 98 % of the companies plan to maintain or even expand their business activities. Three-quarters of agricultural companies and two-thirds of tourism companies even want to enter new markets. In that regard, access to finance, high costs of market entry and finding reliable business partners are indicated as the biggest challenges for the surveyed companies.

The German market is highly attractive for the majority of companies, most of them wish to cooperate with German business partners. 89 % of agricultural companies and 92 % of tourism companies expressed that they would like to enter the German market or expand their existing business in Germany in the future. Above all, companies see delegation trips and participation in trade fairs as the most effective measures to find suitable business partners. The implementation of Vocational Education Training according to German standards is also seen as a possible success factor for the majority of companies in order to stimulate their sectors.

The report takes a closer look at the key challenges for the companies’ founders. It shows that, from a legal point of view, men and women basically have the same chances of starting a company, 75 % of the surveyed companies agreed on that. The lack of funding, poor infrastructure, bureaucracy and missing qualification skills are the greatest challenges for both female and male founders. Nevertheless: 88 % still see a need for improvements in terms of Female Entrepreneurship. A better work-family balance, customised mentoring programs for female founders and easier access to funds are the main factors to support women who decide to start their own business.

Pages: 25 Pages | File size: 29.1 MB

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